


Daybreak

by igrab



Series: blue skies [1]
Category: DAYS (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 03:17:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8128342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/igrab/pseuds/igrab
Summary: There are sky-blue spotches on the back of his knuckles, right where this kid touched him. Jin stares.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is based on the manga for the most part, so how they meet is very different (mostly because it was easier to look that up.... whoops) but there's no spoilers or anything if you've only watched the anime!

"...Here." 

 

Jin holds out a handkerchief (okay, so it was a pair of panties... so what?), not looking to see if the kid takes it- honestly, he'd just been looking for someone to try out his sweet nunchuck moves on, it wasn't like he had a habit of being a hero or anything. 

 

But then, he feels a brush of fingers against his knuckles as the guy takes it from him, and on instinct, because everyone does, he casually checks to see if any colors show up on his skin. 

 

His eyes shoot wide open. 

 

What. 

 

There are sky-blue spotches on the back of his knuckles, right where this kid touched him. Jin stares. 

 

Look, no one _actually_ expects to meet their soulmate this early... he's not even in high school yet, technically..! 

 

There's a girl running up to them, babbling to the boy. He hasn't noticed, or at least, Jin's pretty sure he hasn't, since he's still blubbering over being called 'cool'. Ah, this guy, really?? Jin thinks. Well, he had gone out of his way to save his ass, feeling... _some_ thing when he'd seen those bullies go after him. Or, more specifically, his determination in the face of that adversity. It was... something. 

 

The girl treats him to lunch as thanks for saving 'Tsuku-chan', which is a start. Jin can _see_ it, a brush of that summer-sky blue on the tips of his fingers, but still he hasn't noticed. How hasn't he noticed?? 

 

Drastic measures need to be taken. 

 

Jin holds out his hand, with his absolute best smile. "Kazama Jin," he introduces himself. Look at my hand, look at yours, _tell me you're feeling this too_. 

 

"Ah... I'm... Tsukamoto Tsukushi..." he doesn't take the hand; he twists his in the bottom of his shirt instead, eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment and a blush rising in his cheeks. "I have nothing special to introduce myself with..." 

 

Goddamnit. 

 

Jin _grabs_ his hand, presses their palms firm and strong together until he can feel a deep, tingling warmth. "Nice to meet you, Tsukushi!!" he says, trying his utmost to convey what their hands have already told him. 

 

He looks stunned - (cute, he can't help thinking, ahh, he's so _cute_ ) but he still hasn't looked down, so it's probably that he first-named him. Damnit, why won't he look?? 

 

Jin sits back with a sigh, runs his hand through his hair and glances down at his palm. Yep, it's a bright, lovely shade of pale blue, and Tsukushi's matches it perfectly. 

 

Well, he supposes he'll get it eventually, if they're meant to be. And hey, speaking of... 

 

"...Tsukushi, do you like soccer?" 

 

= 

 

"Kazama-kun, why are you so nice to me?" Tsukushi asks, after they wander around trying to get another player for futsal (and to get those assholes off Tsukushi's tail, like _hell_ is he letting his soulmate get picked on). 

 

Jeez, he still hasn't figured it out? Jin sighs. "Why? Because we're..." 

 

Soulmates. That's all he needs to say. Say it, Jin! For fuck's sake, say it! 

 

He doesn't like soccer like Jin does. He's shy and weak and a _guy_ (ehh, if Jin's honest with himself he's not exactly surprised about that one) and maybe fate got it wrong...? 

 

Maybe his mother had the right idea after all. 

 

"...Friends," he finishes, feeling something shrivel up and die inside. (Hope, he tells himself, helpfully. Hope for a better life, a better way.) 

 

But even though it should have been a letdown, somehow that word makes Tsukushi's face break out in the most beautiful, purest, _happiest_ of smiles. 

 

Jin needs to leave. 

 

"...Wait!" his voice suddenly calls out to Jin's retreating back. "That last person for futsal... couldn't it be..... me?" 

 

Hope reignites in his heart again. 

 

"I suck at soccer... I don't think I'll be of any use, but..." 

 

He stares down at his blue palm and thinks, _I want to believe it's true. I want to believe in this._

 

"If it's just to fill in some numbers, I could..." 

 

Jin turns back around and gives in to the giddy, happy feeling in his chest that he doesn't want to give up on. "It would be a big help!! Give me your number!!" 

 

And so it begins. 

 

= 

 

He doesn't realize until he's home, at dinner - actually he might not have realized at all, but the first thing his mother does when Tsukushi gets home is to gasp and grab at his hands. "Tsukushi!!" she exclaims. "You met your soulmate!!" 

 

What. What?! 

 

He gapes down at his hands and finally, he sees it - he's got blue on the tips of his fingers and the palm of his hand. Light, summer-sky blue. 

 

It's obviously not Sayuri - he's known that for years! - and the only other person he'd been with - the person who shook his hand, that hand, the same hand his mother is cooing over - 

 

It's Kazama-kun. Kazama-kun, handsome gorgeous amazing Kazama-kun. 

 

He lets out a strangled little noise that's somewhere between a gasp and a whimper, and very nearly faints dead away. 

 

"Tsukushi, don't look like that!! What's wrong?? Do you not remember them??" His mother looks far too worried about this. 

 

"N-no! I remember! I have his number and everything! I just didn't know he was my...." Oh. 'He'. So, there's that. 

 

His mom doesn't look very surprised, however - or rather, she's simply happy, beyond happy that her little boy has found the person he's meant for in the world. She immediately declares a celebration dinner, and because of it, he's far too late getting out of the house - when he remembers that, oh yeah, he'd volunteered to play futsal tonight. With Kazama-kun. _His soulmate._

 

He rushes out the door, and almost immediately runs into - oh hey - it's his favorite bullies again. Dread settles like a thick fog in his chest. 

 

(He thinks about Kazama-kun, about how he'd appeared like an angel out of the blue, and - that had to have been before he'd even known, before they'd ever touched. It makes him feel _so warm_.) 

 

"... Aren't you misunderstanding something?" they say. "You don't suit him. Wasn't he just teasing you?" 

 

"B-but Kazama-kun is...." 

 

" _We won't let you go. You'll be playing with us until morning._ " 

 

Tsukushi blinks rain out of his eyes and glares up at them with all the ferocity he can manage. 

 

"He's my _soulmate_!" he shouts, loud enough to bang down the alleyway, loud enough to fill the air. His eyes blaze with determination. "And _you can't keep me from him._ " 

 

= 

 

Ahh, his heart can't take this kind of shit. 

 

They should really go inside, start warming up. It's raining, the buses have stopped running - there's no way Tsukushi's going to make it, no matter what Sayuri says. It's fine, he probably just... finally noticed his hand and doesn't want anything to do with Jin. It sucks, but that's life. 

 

He still hasn't gone inside, though. He's still waiting, listening to his phone ring out in the rain and the darkness. 

 

He turns around, slowly, feeling - again - like his heart is breaking. It's fine, it's fine, he tells himself. It's just futsal, it's just - 

 

Then he hears the hard pound of footsteps in the rain, and heavy breathing, getting closer and closer. 

 

"Tsuku-chan!" Sayuri exclaims. "What happened?! You're all beaten u--" 

 

"The match!" he interrupts her, and Jin feels his chest twist and that seed of hope sprouting like a new leaf. "Is it over yet?!" 

 

He swallows and smiles, shaky and so, so happy. "We haven't started yet. You're just in time." 

 

"Oh... good....." and he explains how he'd had to ask directions and when they realize that Tsukushi _ran here_ \- all the way from home!! - well, Jin just about loses his temper. 

 

_Don't you get it?!_ he thinks, frantically, as he grabs the front of Tsukushi's shirt and hauls him up to his face, yelling. _How dare you put yourself in so much danger when I just found you, when I've fucking found you?! WHY??_

 

"B-because..." 

 

And then he gets it, suddenly. He meets his eyes and sees it there, that he knows, now, and that same determination and panic that Jin was feeling right now was what drove him onward. 

 

"Because it's you," Tsukushi whispers, and brings a hand up to cup Jin's cheek. "And... because I promised." 

 

Jin laughs, wetly, and then he drags this stupid, beautiful, amazing boy into his arms, their cheeks dragging together and hands fisting in soaked cotton. "...I'm glad. I'm glad I invited you. I'm glad you came." 

 

When he introduces Tsukushi to the rest of the team, it's with an arm slung around his shoulders and sky blue smeared across both of their faces, and he says, "this is Tsukamoto Tsukushi, my soulmate." 

 

They give him such a hard time, and it's so, so worth it. 

 

= 

 

It's different, being soulmates with a guy like Kazama Jin. Tsukushi wonders if it's real, sometimes, because Kazama-kun is just so _nice_ and he can't imagine that he's done anything to deserve this kind of person in his life. 

 

"You know, it's not like we wouldn't see each other, even if you weren't on the soccer team," Kazama ventures softly, and Tsukushi blinks in surprise. 

 

"Do you... not want me there?" he asks, timidly. 

 

Kazama blows out a breath, and smiles like it's something he's doing despite himself. "Of course I want you there," he admits, ruefully. "But if you're not..." he trails off, and Tsukushi musters up his courage. 

 

"It's just - I really, really love playing soccer with you, Kazama-kun. I know I'm horrible at it but - I really want to get better, so I don't let everyone down. So I can keep on playing, with you." 

 

It's moments like these that make it worth it, when Kazama looks like he's been given something precious, and Tsukushi cannot possibly be worthy of that, but apparently, he is. Kazama laughs softly, their faces close together, and here - in the middle of class!! - he leans in and kisses the tip of Tsukushi's nose. 

 

"Kazama!" he squeaks, and it only makes his utter asshole of a soulmate laugh harder. "That's going to be there all day!!" 

 

"I know," he says, impishly, and when he pulls back Tsukushi can see a lovely hint of blue right in the center of his lips, so. At least he's not alone. "And everyone else should, too." Then he reaches up and traces a heart shape on his cheek. "That I have the bestest, cutest soulmate in the world~" 

 

"KAZAMA!!" 

 

He laughs as he runs off into the hall. 

 

= 

 

When they have their joint training camp, Jin is already braced for it. He knows people talk about him. They had to have heard that his soulmate is on the team, and - well. He doubts they'll be kind, with their criticism. 

 

Just in case, he avoids letting them touch anywhere that might be visible for a day or so before the camp. It's a lot harder than he thought it would be - he's gotten used to it, apparently. Having their hands brush, their shoulders, pressing little kisses to Tsukushi's nose or cheek or jaw. Sometimes, doodling fun things on his arms and legs when he's too worn out from running to fight back. Sometimes, just leaning as much of himself as he can against him, not thinking about the colors, just the feel of his soft skin. 

 

Particularly, it's hard to keep his hands to himself on the bus ride over - he can see the looks Tsukushi's giving him, confused, giving him the benefit of the doubt before feeling hurt - but he just doesn't know how to explain it, really. Not in a way that will make any sense. 

 

But he sees some of their senpai toss knowing looks over their shoulders, and he thinks they probably understand. 

 

The whispers start almost as soon as he steps off the bus. Really, he should've known better than to forget to wash his Seiseki tracksuit (or maybe he should've worn the blue one... ahh, but that one was dirty too). He stands out enough with his hair, wearing bright yellow? Well, he wouldn't care if it was just for himself, but. 

 

He just doesn't want Tsukushi to get hurt. 

 

But as the morning wears on, he slowly realizes that none of them are talking about soulmates. They've noticed him, for sure - his hair, his tracksuit, his attitude - and there have been whispers here and there about Tsukushi, but the only thing they mention is surprise that someone like him is actually player, rather than a manager. 

 

It's.... strange, to be so ready for something to happen, and then it... doesn't. 

 

What does it mean? He thinks it over as he jogs up the mountain at Tsukushi's shoulder, smiling to himself as they leave everyone else in the dust. He thought - surely, the senpai would have talked. Surely, someone would have said something, to someone, about the freshmen soulmates at opposite ends of the talent spectrum. Surely, someone would have thought that Seiseki accepted him out of pity. 

 

As they reach the top of the mountain, the only conclusion that Jin can come to is that - for whatever reason, all of Seiseki had chosen to keep their mouths shut. 

 

He's still marveling at this as they settle in for dinner, a massive group of hungry boys all vying for a delicious meal. When he hears someone behind him start to sneer, he's just about accustomed to the thought that no one outside of their team knows, that he and Tsukushi are connected, so it's without thinking that he grabs hold of his partner's elbow to keep him from saying anything. It's not worth it, not for him. 

 

Then he blinks and looks down at the four vivid blue lines on Tsukushi's arm. 

 

"Hey, hey, he stood up!" 

 

"Ohh, so scary..." 

 

"Bein' with Seiseki, even that guy got brave--" 

 

It's like Jin blinks and suddenly, he's got the teapot in his hand, and he's pouring it on some guy's head. Well, he thinks, as some of them look at his blue-tinged fingers and the blue on Tsukushi's arm, now they know. So fuck it, I guess. 

 

He wraps an arm around his soulmate's shoulders and deliberately lets his knuckles drag down his arm, letting color bloom to life. 

 

"Sorry, Tsukushi," he murmurs, then detaches to duck away from the first punch thrown. 

 

= 

 

Tsukushi sinks down into the hot bath, trying to hide both his blush and the new blue marks on his arms. So Kazama ignores him for days and now this...! 

 

"Jeez," Kurusu-kun mutters as he flops in next to him. "All that trouble, for nothing." 

 

"Ah... what trouble?" Tsukushi still isn't sure where he stands with his loudmouthed yearmate - he obviously didn't like how untalented Tsukushi was, and seemed grumpy whenever Kazama got to cut corners, but he'd never said a mean word about their relationship. 

 

Kurusu rolls his eyes. "What, you didn't notice? Kazama hasn't put his hands on you for days; obviously he was trying to keep the other teams from finding out." 

 

"He.... what??" Tsukushi had never considered that, not even once. "He was doing it on purpose??" 

 

Kurusu splutters, brows coming together. "Of course he was! Idiot! Do you have any idea what kind of shit people would say if they knew??" 

 

"No..." he mumbles, shrinking away from his teammate's apparent wrath. 

 

"Ughh... Tsukamoto, you're hopeless." He leans back, dragging a hand through his unruly hair. "They'd probably think Coach only keeps you around out of pity, or maybe Kazama struck some sort of deal, like he wouldn't play unless they let you join. Stuff like that. Dumb stuff." 

 

Tsukushi feels his face drain of color. "He... he didn't, though, right?!" 

 

"Oh my god! Of course not! For one," but Kurusu doesn't even get to finish, because the door bangs open and the second years run in, loudly complaining about them taking too long. 

 

"Look," Kurusu says, just before Tsukushi gets out the door, "don't worry about that sort of thing. Okay?? The Captain would never let something like that happen, and besides, Kazama... really, really likes you," he finishes on a mumble, a blush on his cheeks. "And I think... it means more to him that you're here on your own power, because you love it. Even if you do suck," he adds with a frustrated noise. "So go! Get some sleep, or snuggle or whatever. The cat's out of the bag, so... if you're not covered in blue tomorrow I'm gonna be really pissed off." He turns around and marches down the hallway, arms folded over his chest. "Night, loser!" 

 

Tsukushi scurries back to the room he's sharing with Kazama - something he'd taken for granted, now that he thinks about it. It had just seemed natural, that they would be together, but if people really did think such things........ it meant the Coach knew that, and trusted them anyway. 

 

"Kazama-kun!" he exclaims as he goes in, relieved that he's all right. And, though he hadn't realized it until right then - he's relieved beyond measure that Kazama isn't mad at him, that he was holding back those touches for a good reason. 

 

"Do you know why girls have two breasts?" Kazama inquires, sounding genuinely confused about the matter, and Tsukushi collapses onto his bed with helpless laughter. He's all right, then, he thinks, as Kazama continues his (incomprehensible) train of thought. He's fine. 

 

_I think I love him_ , he realizes, as Kazama rolls over in his sleep and drools on his pillow - still talking about breasts, because Kazama really never changes. He reaches across the gap between their beds and trails his fingers along his soulmate's pretty cheek, watches the now-familiar blue rise up in their wake.

 

"Good night, Kazama," he murmurs, and curls up with the rising feeling in his chest, to sleep until dawn.

**Author's Note:**

> there's going to be way more shorts in this series, they're not the only soulmates in seiseki... just the most obvious x) 
> 
> follow my instagram @riffraffie and shout at me abt DAYS, i am so hungry for more of these babes!!


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